On February 24, 2022, Russian forces began their invasion of Ukraine with military crossing the border. This move by Russia is the most aggressive invasion since World War II, and has shocked the globe. While Ukrainian forces put up a strong fight against Russia, it’s left the world wondering, why did Russia invade Ukraine?
A Bit of History: World War II, the Cold War, & NATO
To understand why Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision to invade Ukraine, it’s important to understand some of the history leading up to this point and draw connections to World War II.
In 1939, Adolf Hitler the leader of Germany and the head of the Nazi party invaded the neighboring country, Poland. This invasion prompted other countries to get involved and marked the start of World War II. A world war is a war that involves many countries from around the world. So far there have only been two world wars. World War II was fought between the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan, against the Allied Powers of Great Britain, the United States, who joined in 1941, and the Soviet Union, which included modern day Russia. World War II was fought from 1939 until 1945 when the Allied Powers defeated Hitler and the rest of the Axis Powers. Overall it’s estimated that 60 to 80 million people died during World War II, including 6 million Jewish citizens that were targeted by the Nazi party.
Although the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, they became enemies soon after the war ended. In 1947, the Cold War began. This was not a physically fought war like World War II, but was instead a period of intense competition between the Soviet Union and the United States with the goal of becoming more powerful than the other. In response to the Cold War, in 1949 the United States, Canada, and some Western European countries, such as France, Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Countries in NATO had a military pact to protect each other from the Soviet Union. This treaty meant that if the Soviet Union attacked one of the countries in the alliance, the fellow NATO countries had a responsibility to step in and help that country fight back against the Soviet Union.
Throughout the course of the Cold War, more countries joined NATO to gain protection from the Soviet Union. Such as Turkey and Greece in 1952, and West Germany in 1955. After putting the first man on the moon, getting ahead in the nuclear arms race, and greatly improving citizens’ quality of living, the United States became a world superpower and “won” the Cold War. In 1988, the Soviet Union started to fall apart and in 1991 it officially dissolved into 15 different independent countries. Russia was the largest and most powerful of these independent countries, but Ukraine was another one. The end of the Soviet Union was devastating for Soviet leaders, and something that continues to hurt Russia’s pride to this day.
NATO Expansion
Over time, some of these independent countries, as well as other countries to Russia’s west, began to join NATO. Including: the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in 2004. Albania and Croatia in 2009. Montenegro in 2017, and North Macedonia in 2020. Russia viewed these countries joining NATO and entering a military alliance as siding with the U.S. and the west, and a threat to Russia.
Since the early 2000s, Ukraine started expressing interest in joining NATO. As one of the last countries standing between NATO and Russia, Russia has been very against Ukraine joining NATO since talks began. Ukraine’s interest in forming an alliance with the west contributed to Russia’s recent invasion.
Why Did President Putin Invade Ukraine?
President Vladimir Putin made the most aggressive invasion since Hitler and Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 to start World War II, so the question is why? Although it’s impossible to know for sure, here are three reasons that likely contributed to the decision to invade Russia.
NATO
In recent years, Ukraine had expressed interest in joining NATO, which Putin and Russia were very against. If Ukraine were to become a NATO country, they would form a military alliance or agreement with the United States and other western countries. Ukraine shares a border with Russia and if it became part of NATO, the United States and other countries could have military bases and forces on the ground in Ukraine. This would put Russia in a compromising position and leave them more open to attacks from the west.
Ukraine’s Historical Ties to Russia
Another likely reason why Russia invaded Ukraine is because of their past history and cultural ties. Ukraine and Russia were both part of the Soviet Union which dissolved in 1991. Therefore, they have a lot of cultural overlap and a similar history. In a 2021 speech, President Putin even said that Russia and Ukraine are “one people”. If Ukraine joins NATO, Russia would see that as Ukraine severing their ties and disrespecting their history together.
Ukraine’s Natural Resources
Although Putin has not expressed this as a reason for invasion, Ukraine has a big supply of natural resources or supplies that Russia may want. Ukraine has a large reserve of uranium which is used for nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. As nuclear energy becomes more widely used around the world, access to uranium will become more important. Speaking of energy, Ukraine also has the second largest natural gas reserve in Europe, after Russia. Natural gas is used to heat homes, for stoves, and for dryers. Russia already controls the energy distribution for Europe, but with Ukraine they could lead this sector even more. Ukraine also has a huge food supply, and is one of the largest distributors of wheat and corn. Having these resources would support Russia’s economy and set them up for future success.
The World’s Response
Since Russia invaded, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has implored world leaders to step in and help, but sending troops to fight alongside Ukrainian forces is not a preferred option. Ukraine is not a NATO country and therefore the United States and other NATO countries do not have a military obligation to protect them from Russia. That doesn’t mean that those countries cannot step in and fight alongside Ukraine against Russia, but it’s a difficult situation. Sending military forces to help Ukraine fight Russia could be seen as an act of war, and start World War III.
Although sending military troops to protect Ukraine is tricky, countries around the world have taken other measures to help fight back against Russia. One way countries have supported Ukraine is by sending weapons and food. Another way, is some countries have accepted Ukrainian refugees into their country. Such as Poland, who accepted more than 750,000 refugees in the first two weeks of the invasion. Additionally, countries have taken measures to try to cripple Russia’s economy. This includes cutting off Russian banks from the rest of the world.
Some countries around the world are chipping in to assist Ukraine, but their main priority is trying to avoid World War III. It remains to be seen if Ukraine can fight off Russia without direct military support. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will continue to develop over time. As the situation changes, the world’s response will likely change as well.
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